Opinion: Does Nextdoor encourage users to love, or hate, their neighbors?
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Nextdoor is a social media app that allows neighbors to get in touch with each other — whether that be to buy and sell items, ask for advice or share news. While lovely in concept, users are notorious for complaining to other neighbors, specifically about crime and the houseless population.
Until recently, I had never used the Nextdoor app, but I saw its potential as a vehicle for community building and mutual aid. I was also curious: Were the stereotypes true? Or is there more to Nextdoor than meets the eye?
After scrolling through the first 100 posts on my home page, I found that the three most popular types of posts were advertising the sale of a good or service (20%), complaints about crime or suspicious activity (19%) and giving or soliciting recommendations (17%). Other common types of posts related to missing or found pets (10%) and the recent and disturbing development of antisemitic and transphobic flyers delivered to people’s front porches (9%). I saw five posts offering to give away free goods, four mutual aid requests and one complaint directly referencing the houseless population (although posts and comments alluding to the neighborhood “going downhill” or suspicious persons were not uncommon). While the majority of posts were neutral in nature, overtly negative posts outnumbered overtly positive posts by about three to one.
Is engagement with community members truly beneficial if so much time is devoted to theft, break ins and suspicious persons lurking in the park? How is one to love thy neighbor when reading post after post complaining about how the neighborhood is going to shit? In some ways, Nextdoor encourages neighbors to fear one another. I may feel for Janice and the package that got stolen off her porch, but how is posting the Ring video footage keeping the community safe? Instead, it encourages paranoia and distrust toward other community members without getting to the root as to why people steal in the first place. Still, as someone who longs for a community in which neighbors know and help each other, I don’t want to dismiss the app entirely.
My opinion is only so valuable, given I have only had the app downloaded for a couple of weeks. So I decided to ask the people of Nextdoor what they thought about the app. I received over 40 responses in only a couple of days. Some commenters were enthusiastic about Nextdoor and the community they had found there. Most comments were more nuanced in nature, such as a DM I received from Sebastiane P., who uses the app as a way to help his neighbors find their lost pets. He explained that the app appears to be “less about helping neighbors and more about complaining about neighbor conduct,” something he is critical of. “We could come on here and offer our neighbors fresh muffins out of the oven if we wanted to,” Sebastiane P. said.
Another reply came from Donna M.: “Social media of all kinds, this platform included, reveals our weaknesses, fears and judgemental tendencies. Just like with voluntary surveys, the data collected will always be skewed to only include the kind of people who want to participate. Generalizations of humanity cannot be made from it, as it will always omit data of the people who choose not to use social media.”
The consensus is the app is too negative and that they were tired of the frequent complaints about crime and neighbor conduct, although some appreciate the app as a place to air grievances and keep themselves informed on criminal activity. Those who had positive experiences on the app were those who reached out for help and received support from the community. One man said it was people on Nextdoor who helped him finance his dentures. Several people commented that the app helped them find their lost pets, and one woman was grateful to the people on Nextdoor who shared toys with her when her grandchild came to visit. Linda M. said, “Nextdoor has been a surprise to me. The people are so helpful and kind. I have seen an outpouring of kindness.”
I saw a lot of this kindness and community support myself. I saw posts inviting people to potlucks and neighborhood events as well as posts thanking community members for lending a helping hand during hard times. I saw people rallying behind their trans and Jewish neighbors, stating their horror at the antisemitic and transphobic flyers they had received, promising to donate to the ACLU and offering support to those affected.
I left the experience with a more nuanced understanding of Nextdoor. I am hopeful that neighbors, when given the opportunity, will come forward to help one another. I enjoyed hearing the experiences of others. I, too, experienced an outpour of support after posting about my article, with many commenters wishing me luck and expressing excitement about the story. Still, I can’t help but feel unsettled about the surveillance, the promotion of shame as a method for social control and the comments and posts that encouraged the distrust of others. As John C. ominously put it, “Nextdoor! It’s like Yelp for neighbors.”
I don’t want an app on my phone where individuals are reviewed and critiqued. Despite this, I still see the potential of Nextdoor as a platform for mutual aid, political organization and community care. Community members want to help each other and, when provided with opportunities, will support one another. I hope those who read this will be encouraged to reach out to their neighbors, whether on or off the app.
